Improved washing-machine



'nanying drawings, making apart of this speci- Awithout lifting it entire and removing it from scribe its .construction and operation.

UNITED STATES MUNSON O. ORONK AND SIDNEY WV.

PATENT OFFICE.

PALMER, OF AUBURN, .NEW YORK.

Specification forming partot` Letters Patent No. 40.330, dated October 20,' 1863.

To all whom it may concern.- l

Be it known that we, MUNsoN C. GRoNK i and SIDNEY W. PALMER, of the city of Auburn, in the county of Cayuga and State of New York, haveinvented a new and Improved lVashing-lllachine; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation ot the saine, reference being had to the accomictton, in wliieh- Figure l represents a vert-ical sectional View, the divisions being made in the direction ot the lines d d, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a top view ot' the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal view of the i'uicrum. Fig. 4 is a bottom view of one of thekribs, showing its under side and the channel out in it.

Like-pnrtsare lettered alike in the various views. I

The nature of our invention consists in providing the kind et' washing-machines com; monly designated as tub-machines, with, first, a lever to enable the operator to give the required pressure with a less outlay oi strength and labor, and to operate the machine while standing erect beside it, instead of being obliged to lean over it in a laborious posit-ion and inhale the vapors rising from the suds; secondl v,in providing the rotary rubber with hinged sections, which can be raised Vat pleasnre for the purpose of examining the clothes the tub; thirdly, in providing for n freer circulation of the water by cutting waterehannels, in the under. side of the bottom ribs and holes in the rotary rubber, said holes being in such positions relativelyr with the buttons which hold the hinged sections ofthe rubber in place, as that in the rotary motion of'the latter the said buttons shall throw the surface water over and into said holes; fourthly, in providing a false bottom, so that when desired the washin g apparatus may with little trouble or preparation beput into any ordinary wash-tub and rcmoved at pleasure.

To enable others skilled in the art tomake and use our invention, we will proceed to de- C is a false bottom, placed upon and covering the real bottom of t-he tub A. Upon U are fastened the hollow or channeled'radial ribs a a.

Fixed firmly into its center is the upright post D,.and projecting fiom its lower surface and into holes bored into the bottom of the tub are the'pins e c, forthe purpose of preventing C from revolvingwith 4the rubber B. This false bottom C may be dispensed with, together with the pins e c, and the ribs a a. e and upright D fastened upon and into the real bottom ot' the tub A. The utility of' C is merely to enable the' completion of the washring apparatus so that'it can be used in any ordinary tub, and so that it may be removed'from the tub that the latter may be usedfor any other purpose. B', with its hinged sections B B, are the rotary rubber. Toits under side arevfastenedthe radial ribs' a a', corresponding in number and' as nearly as may be in position with those"alrendy described ou the false or real bottom. The sections B B are so hinged to B as to leave an open joint or a space between themkas shown in Fig. y2, soas not to catch any portion of the clothes when the sections B B are dropped down to their place.- Pivoted to the upper side of B, or ofthe sections B B, are the buttons P P, which, when extended as shown at Fig. 2, hold the hinged sections B B down to their place. Near the inner ends o'f the latter are the holes h In The but'- tons l P may be curved inward, so as more perfectly and powerfully to force the surface water inwardly and into'the snidholes at every motion to the left of the rubber. Fixed firmly to the rubber are the two uprights Gr Gr. Into B', upon either side ot'sthe hole through whichxpasses the center post, D, und opposite to its center, are cut notches S to receive the forked and beveled ends of the flcrum U. f

fr is a spiral yspring for the purpose of lifting- `the rubber B when pressure is removed from the latter.

H is a lever having cut into it at proper intervals the' elongated holes a n' and slot n, tof-receive the uprights D and G G. The slot and elongated holes enable the lever H to be moved-up and down easily, and its outer end to be considerably7 elevated or depressed without its binding upon either of the uprights: The hole n is elongated in but one direction, that toward the handle u, its reverse side resting against the upright D. In-y to the under side of the lever H is eut the over the pin t".

notch S, to receive the single-beveled .end of the fulcrum U.'

L is awooden collar passing freely over the upright D. lts purpose is to transmit theY resistance of the pin O to the lever H with uniformity.

O is an iron pin iitting into either of the holes e e and acting as a resistance to the upward tendency of the contiguous section of the lever H when pressure downward is applied at u.

xefe are/a series cf holes in the upright I) tov receii'e the pin O, and are thus numerous to' accommodate different quantities of clothes.

t is a pin projecting from the upright D to B and opening into the hole by which the post P passes through the rubber B.l The purpose oft is to enable the rubber to pass freely U is a fulcrum by which the pressure downward applied at 'uis transmitted to the rubber, increased in the same ratio that the distance from u to S is greater than the distance from S to L.

The operation of this fappar'atus is as follows: The clothes, with a proper proportion of soap'and water, are placed in the' tub, the rubber and superncumbent parts having been removed. rPhe latter are. now replaced and the machine arranged as in Fig..,2. The operator grasps the lever H at u and oscillates it from right to left and left to right horizontally, malging from an eighth to a quarter of a revolution. This backward and forward motion is communicated to the rubber by the uprights G G. At the Sametime the operator applies a downward pressure at u greater or less in proportion to the celerity desired or the kind of-fabric being operated upon`. The

weightof the hand, or a little more, is sufcient in most cases. The immediate action upon the clothes is to move them back and forward but O nlyasinall proportion of the 4distance traversed by the rubber B in its oscillating movement, rubbing them against each other and against the rubber and the'bottom ofthe tub.

i But the principal action is as follows: Whenever a rib on the bottom and a rib on the rubber come into juxtaposition, the effect is to press or squeeze out a portion .of the water from the intervening clothes. As the ribs is left at liberty to absorb the same again, and thus the process of expression and absorption goes continually on, and at as many points simultaneously as there are opposing ribs upon the rubber and bottom board. Occa-'l' sionall)T the pressure will be removed from the y lever H, and the rubber is immediately lifted from the clothes by the vaction of the spring r, and while in this position the lever may be carried around to another quarter, the press! .The tendency of this rotary oscillating `1n0 tion is to throw the water from the center to Athe circumference, leaving the center but poorly supplied. To obviate this serious difculty channels are-cut in the under side of the bottom ribs, as shownfin Fig. 4, through which the water can -be returned to the center. Likewise the action of the buttons P P to throw the water into the holes h IL. To facilitate this flow of water throughuthe channels in the lower ribs passages may be cut at different points along the under 'surface of the rib connecting this channelwith the space outside, as shown at f, Fig4. To examine the clothes one or both of the hinged sections may be raised by turning the buttons P P so thaty they'occupy the position shown by dotted lines at b, Fig. 2. When the clothes are to be removed or turned over, the'fulcrum U is removed and therubber lifted above the -pin t', vbenfa partial revolution Wilt Aenable it to rest on said pin, when the clothes can easily be removed or turned over. The ribs may be made with parallel sides or with a slight taper. In the latter case .those on the bottom vboard will have ltheir large ends opposed to the small ends of those on the` rubber.

Having thus fully described our invention', we would say that 4we do not claim as new the rotating rubber with the accompanying radial ribs; neither do we claim any outside form of the ribs'or any particular arrangement of the same', but

What we do claim as new, and wish to secureby LettersPatcnt, is f The fulcrum U, the lever H, the collar L, the ribs a a, the buttons P P, the hinged sections B B, the false bottom G, and the upright D, the whole constructed and arranged substantially as herein set forth. 1 y

Witnesses: f

HORACE 12000K, J. F. PALMER.

ure" again applied, and the V'process continued.

-is such as in theleftward motion of the rubber' fs. w. PALMER. 

